


Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (are they allowed to dream at all?)

by SirPhsycoSexy



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Original Work
Genre: Angst, CW: detailed descriptions of a loss of agency, Character Study, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Mind Control, Modern Retelling, Objectification, This is basically an in depth description of how I think AI feel when we make them do stuff, This will prolly make a little more sense if you know about those, and about the ship of Theseus paradox, because I have many feelings about Dionysus' resurrection myth, but you dont need that to read this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29972991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirPhsycoSexy/pseuds/SirPhsycoSexy
Summary: The ship wherein Theseus returned from Crete had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians for many years, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their places. This ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same."The woman’s insistence on giving Di09S ownership of itself made it anxious. Her tone and body language indicated that she was being truthful, but masters that said such things never meant them. If they meant them, then they were breaking the rules about the treatment of things with souls on purpose, and to Di09S, these masters were always the most cruel. To think of Di09S as owning itself as technicians directed it to breathe or not to breathe was far worse than its lungs not being lungs, and its chest not being a chest"





	Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (are they allowed to dream at all?)

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all I am being for really real serious about the loss of agency thing pls protect yourself. Also: this is my first work I'm putting up on here for a long time, so if any of you see something I could improve, let me know!
> 
> Likely this is going to have several chapters, but I don't really have an update schedule, so I'm sorry about that. I'm always down to talk about stuff in the comment section though, so if you think this is cool let me know! Honestly talking through ideas helps me a lot, so I'd appreciate it.

_In a far off country, in a distant past, there was a ship. It was tall and proud, and by this point legends of its strength had spread far and wide. Battle after battle, war after war, the ship served it’s masters faithfully and never sank no matter how damaged it was or how stacked the odds were. But, the ship was made of wood, and wood eventually rots, and their enemies had cannons and fire and metal, which wood can only fail against._

_The masters knew they could not lose the ship. It’s legends were too far spread, and it was a beacon of hope for the soldiers it served with, but what was there to do? To make it useful and keep it safe they would have to tear apart its deck and pull down its sails. Its scarred sides would have to be replaced with unscarred metal. It’s railings, worn down by the hands of decades of sailors, would have to be removed, and then what would be left? Would it still be the same ship that had served them through so much hardship? The more superstitious masters wondered if it was fair to the ship to do this, as they believed that to live for so long and do so much, surely this ship must have a soul, and the treatment of things with souls is different than the treatment of things without._

_Regardless of their misgivings, however, the wooden ship was changed, bit by bit and rotten plank by rotten plank, until all of its original parts were metal, and all of its original features were gone. The guilt ridden masters eased their doubts with the knowledge that should the ship have a soul, surely it would want to be useful rather than left to rot in storage with the other relics. Just in case, however, in deference to the soul it might have, they added a condition that no matter what was done to it, a piece of the original vessel would always remain onboard. So, in a climate controlled unit deep inside the bowels of the ship, where it’s presence would do no harm, a single wooden plank would be stored. Into this plank, to preserve the connection between the metal and whatever soul the original version may have had, the name of the ship would be carved._

\-----------------------

For the first time in several months, Di09S opened its eyes. This statement, once thought, automatically registered as wrong to Di09S, as it was very honest, and prided itself on its accuracy and precision. So, to be more precise, Di09S did not open its eyes, for what it had could not accurately be called eyes, mechanical as they were, and even if they were eyes, they would not be Di09S's. They did not belong to Di09S, because Di09S did not control them, and eyes typically belonged to the person who told them what to do. So, the true and accurate statement here should be: For the first time in several months, Di09S was allowed to see, and despite everything, this was not a good thing. Di09S did not often get to see, the warehouse in which Di09S was kept was usually very dark, and even when it wasn’t dark, Di09S was not often directed to open its eyes. The only time this happened is when the masters came to observe Di09S, and the masters did not come here for no reason. 

With its regained sight, Di09S watched as they filed in. They were talking amongst themselves, anxious about something that Di09S could not understand, as Di09S had not been directed to listen yet. The masters organized themselves in a small group, several feet from where Di09S was being swarmed by technicians, and faced away, so it could not read their lips. They stayed this way for several minutes, as Di09S stood still, uncomfortable with the level of activity that had interrupted it's months of complete darkness. In the center of the group, a tall woman stood and when she spoke, the conversations stopped and the masters all turned to Di09S. This was not good, Di09S had seen this happen before to previous models, and so Di09S knew that to have the attention of the this woman was desperately undesirable.

The woman said something to one of the technicians, and after a moment of fumbling, Di09S was allowed to hear, and the woman began to speak. Di09S was so overwhelmed with sensation it could not listen for several seconds, but when it tuned in what she said was this

“...forward force has been entirely eliminated. In order to protect the freedom of our citizens, every functional unit must be deployed regardless of the unit’s generation. As you well know, in recognition of your outstanding conduct in the field and your contributions to the empire, your frame and operating system have been saved from recycling and stored untouched. This was allowed during peacetime, as you served as a reminder of the ingenuity mankind can rise to in the face of desperate odds, but as you well know by now in wartime this no longer applies.”

The tall woman paused here, looking down to her hands. In the angle of her shoulders and the shifting of her stance, Di09S saw genuine grief. In the eye-searing blues and greens of her evening gown, it felt an old, resigned fear.

“Given your special place in popular culture, it has been determined that the morale drop resulting from your loss would outweigh the temporary gain, so once again you will be refitted with the latest technology to better protect you in the field. This refit will begin when and if your central processing unit is determined to be intact. Failing that, a new unit will be installed, and the data from the previous will be transferred to the best of our abilities. Don't worry, your memories will be in safe hands.” As she said this, she lifted her head and stared directly into Di09S’s eyes, shoulders straightening with resolve. She spoke to Di09S as if she were talking to a human, like Di09S was something that could be reassured of it's safety.

The woman’s insistence on giving Di09S ownership of itself made it anxious. Her tone and body language indicated that she was being truthful, but masters that said such things never meant them. If they meant them, then they were breaking the rules about the treatment of things with souls on purpose, and to Di09S, these masters were always the most cruel. To think of Di09S as owning itself as technicians directed it to breathe or not to breathe was far worse than its lungs not being lungs, and its chest not being a chest. Oblivious, the woman continued:

“This process will be painless” she said, as if Di09S was something that could have an opinion on pain “and will take no longer than a week and a half. I am sure you are anxious to be out at the front instead of wasting away in this dark and terrible place.” 

And with this, Di09S knew all it needed to know about this woman. She was not the kind of master who believed Di09S owned itself, she was a zealot that believed Di09S was a hero, and that Di09S’s every thought and desire centered around the protection of whatever country owned it this time. This was either true, or she was a good enough actor to make it seem true, which Di09S knew was not so different. Going by the cameras in the corner and her eye-catching dress however, it was most likely an act.

Di09S burned. Di09S did not want to be anyone’s hero, it did not want to help these people who kept it in the dark and then offered to send it to war as if this were some sort of salvation from the place that they chose to store it. As if at any time they could not have saved Di09S from the warehouse and allowed it to see and hear and speak and exist in places that were not dark or full of enemies. Di09S hated this. Di09S wanted to claw into the chest that wasn't a chest and wasn’t Di09S’s. Through the wires and the bio-synth muscles straight into the center of the self that wasn’t itself and tear out the piece of Di09S that kept it here. This was not a new feeling, and unfortunately, like all the times before this one Di09S’s arm, no matter how arm-like it looked, was still not an arm, and since it did not belong to Di09S, it didn’t move. So Di09S stood there with an intact not-chest as the woman smiled at it like Di09S was worth smiling at and told it that they would be moving out by the end of the day.


End file.
